ArticleScientific reports2020
Metformin decreases bacterial trimethylamine production and trimethylamine N-oxide levels in db/db mice.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- Article
- Based on the gut-heart axis: Polygonum capitatum improves atherosclerosis by modulating gut microbiota and TMAO, supporting MCPIP1/p53-associated endothelial protection.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Effect Modification of Trimethylamine N-Oxide and Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance with Post-Transplantation Diabetes After Liver Transplant.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Relationship of TMAO levels with vascular function in patients with hypertension.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2025Article
- Trimethylamine-Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- Similarities and differences in the intestinal actions of metformin and imeglimin.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Article
- From Gut to Heart: Targeting Trimethylamine N-Oxide as a Novel Strategy in Heart Failure Management.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Intermittent fasting and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: the potential role of the gut-liver axis.Cell & bioscience · 2025Review
- TMAO and diabetes: from the gut feeling to the heart of the problem.Nutrition & diabetes · 2025Review
- Decoding TMAO in the Gut-Organ Axis: From Biomarkers and Cell Death Mechanisms to Therapeutic Horizons.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Review
- Traditional Chinese medicine improved diabetic kidney disease through targeting gut microbiota.Pharmaceutical biology · 2024Review
- Pharmacological characterization of the antidiabetic drug metformin in atherosclerosis inhibition: A comprehensive insight.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2024Review
- Trimethylamine N-oxide predicts cardiovascular events in coronary artery disease patients with diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Metformin: update on mechanisms of action and repurposing potential.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2023Review
- Detection and Quantification of Some Ethanol-Producing Bacterial Strains in the Gut of Mouse Model of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Role of Metformin.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Gut-Derived Metabolite, Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in Cardio-Metabolic Diseases: Detection, Mechanism, and Potential Therapeutics.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Phenylacetyl glutamine: a novel biomarker for stroke recurrence warning.BMC neurology · 2023Article
- Contribution of Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) to Chronic Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The current study aimed to explore whether metformin, the most widely prescribed oral medication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, alters plasma levels of cardiometabolic disease-related metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in db/db mice with type 2 diabetes. TMAO plasma concentration was up to 13.2-fold higher in db/db mice when compared to control mice, while in db/db mice fed choline-enriched diet, that mimics meat and dairy product intake, TMAO plasma level was increased 16.8-times. Metformin (250 mg/kg/day) significantly decreased TMAO concentration by up to twofold in both standard and choline-supplemented diet-fed db/db mice plasma. In vitro, metformin significantly decreased the bacterial production rate of trimethylamine (TMA), the precursor of TMAO, from choline up to 3.25-fold in K. pneumoniae and up to 26-fold in P. Mirabilis, while significantly slowing the growth of P. Mirabilis only. Metformin did not affect the expression of genes encoding subunits of bacterial choline-TMA-lyase microcompartment, the activity of the enzyme itself and choline uptake, suggesting that more complex regulation beyond the choline-TMA-lyase is present. To conclude, the TMAO decreasing effect of metformin could be an additional mechanism behind the clinically observed cardiovascular benefits of the drug.
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